My brother is a life saver

Natalie in remission from cancer after siblings match

- BY RYAN THOM

A HERO brother saved his sister's life by donating stem cells to her.

Natalie Forrest, 40, from Uddingston, Lanarkshire, is in remission after battling acute myeloid leukaemia and blast myelodysplasia since last September.

She received a lifesaving stem-cell transplant from her little brother, John, 39, who was found to be a full match - despite only having a 25 per cent chance of being a suitable donor.

Natalie said: "I'm extremely grateful to my brother John, he's my hero and he's saved my life. I told him what he had done for me but he's so humble, he gave me all the credit."

It brought an end to gruelling treatment for Natalie who survived seven cardiac arrests in 28 hours during an aggressive chemotherapy plan.

At one point her family were told to say goodbye as Natalie clung on in ICU hooked up to life support. However she made a remarkable recovery with medics able to reduce the levels of leukaemia in her blood enough for a transplant.